HSG Asia Term Business Consulting Project Introduction for SwissCham Singapore members
The Asia Term allows students from St.Gallen to study one semester in Singapore Asia Term + Joint courses (e.g., Business Consulting) The concept: Cooperation between St.Gallen University (HSG) and Singapore Management University (SMU) HSG students study at SMU for 3 months (in return SMU students are sent to Switzerland) and attend courses together with SMU students University of St.Gallen s Flagship Exchange Program on the Bachelor Level Fully integrated into the SMU Curriculum Steady increase of participants from HSG The students: Mainly from Singapore, Switzerland, and Germany (20-23 years old) Major in Business Administration, Economics, and Accountancy 3 rd or 4 th year of their Bachelor's program and have completed all core subjects in the area of management (e.g. strategy, marketing, finance) Page 1
Main idea of the Business Consulting course The theory Course content conveys required skill set to students Students learn basic steps of a consulting process Students acquire consulting skills and techniques and apply them in a real life consulting project with our corporate partners in an Asian context Students will be coached by experienced consultants from reputable consulting companies to maximize their learning Format: 90 mins 'hands-on' class room sessions/week led by Prof. Morkoetter The practice that will be practically applied in a business project Students will be faced with a real life, multidisciplinary, teambased consulting project with a multinational organization Students will apply their acquired knowledge Both our corporate partners as well as our students should benefit from the project Format: 1 real life project / 4-5 students with corporate partners Page 2
Format of the project and potential topics Format 4-5 students/team (overall 22 teams) 1 project leader/team as main contact person for corporate partners Weekly touch points between teams and corporate partners to track project progress Official meetings: 1) company presentation, 2) project kick-off, 3) midterm presentation, 4) final presentation Grading of students based on involvement, content contribution, and presentation skills Students can each devote approx. 150 hours to the project, i.e., 450-600 hours per group Corporate partners usually come from different industries (random sample): Home Appliances Chemicals Pharma Automotive Financial Services Past business projects have focused on different matters (random sample): Feasibility study for consumer goods product in SE Asia Suggestions for expansion of retail network and brand accessibility Go-to-market strategy for retail product in Singapore Offshore Strategy for the Chinese Private Banking Market Page 3
A well-run project requires the buy-in of our corporate partners How will our corporate partners benefit? Support from ambitious young talents to work objectively on project of corporate partners' choice International team set-up facilitates out-of-the box solution findings Free-of-charge extra capacity (no allowance required) Opportunity to present themselves as an employer of choice to our students No administration effort (no need to take care of visa or employment pass, etc.) No need to provide a work place What do we expect from our corporate partners? Provide challenging, well-shaped project that can be accomplished within the given time frame (150 hours per team member) Provide contact person that overviews students during the project and interacts with them on a weekly basis Provide students with required data/information (potentially also field visits) information will be treated confidentially Advise students on their improvement areas throughout the project Page 4
The Consulting Projects are an Added Value for both the Students and the Corporate Partners The team did an outstanding job: the analysis and recommendations have been valued by our teams within 3M. Additionally, in speaking with the student team, I believe they benefited from the project as well. It is my pleasure to be associated with this program, and would be happy to participate in future projects. John Barto, 3M, Corporate Partner 2016 The HSG-SMU students were the best I have worked with on any project. It is not an exaggeration. They were dedicated, down to earth, and passionate. I guess it comes both ways because I treated them with respect and gave them ownership from the start. So did they reciprocate. I loved the team so much I hope that I can work with them in future again. Arthur Chua, Goldbell, Corporate Partner 2016 Page 5
Selection of business consulting partners in 2016 SwissCham Singapore members Page 6
PRELIMINARY Timeline of Business Consulting Projects 2017 Activity Aug Sep Oct Nov Description Responsible Project definition 2 weeks prior to start Exact project scope to be defined prior to project start Corporate partners In-class company presentations Aug 24 Aug 31 Company representatives to present projects to class Corporate partners Group allocations Sep 1-4 Students to be assigned to projects acc. to preferences St.Gallen Institute (SGI) Kick-off session with project teams Weeks of Sep 4 & 11 Kick-off b/w students and companies at client's site Corporate partners, Students, SGI Midterm presentations Weeks of Oct 16/23 Presentation of interim results at client's site Students Final presentations Week of Nov 13 Presentation of final results at client's site Students Regular (inofficial) interactions Ideally weekly Regular inofficial interactions between students and company representative Corporate partners & students In-class lectures 2 sessions per week Practical teaching of consulting frameworks & methods SGI/ guest speakers Page 7
111 Amoy Street #03-00 Singapore 069931 Tel.: +65 6850 7330 Email: singapore@unisg.ch Web: www.singapore.unisg.ch The St. Gallen Institute of Management in Asia Pte Ltd is registered as Company No 201120468E and fully owned by the University of St.Gallen in Switzerland Page 8